


Made of More than Metal

by Kaoru_chibimaster



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AI Sora, AU, Android Riku, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21723670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoru_chibimaster/pseuds/Kaoru_chibimaster
Summary: It was in meeting AI 41088, or Sora as he came to be known, that Android 09285, or Riku as he grew to become, finally learned how to live.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 100





	Made of More than Metal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Carolina1k](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carolina1k/gifts).



> Happy Birthday to my amazing best friend! ~~This fic also doubles as my day-late soriku day submission (oops).~~

“You know…”

09285 blinked up at his creator, accompanied by a mechanical clicking sound that no one could ever quite get rid of. Beneath his synthetic skin, metal still clanked and circuits still buzzed. No matter how humanlike his creator tried to make him, he could never quite pass for human completely.

Not that he really minded, in the grand scheme of things. He knew what he was.

“For an android, you like being difficult,” his creator sighed in a tired, crabby tone. He was young, enough to be just barely out of college despite having graduated university at age fourteen, and yet he seemed as haggard as a man forty years his senior. Lack of sleep was to blame there, but 09285 knew better than to make mention of that. Not again.

He couldn’t quite help talking back, though. Not when he was presented with so hypocritical a quip.

It wasn’t his fault he was programmed with such an expressive AI after all.

“I’d say the same of you, but I think being difficult is hardwired into humanity so nevermind.”

Ienzo rolled his sleep-deprivation reddened, dull blue eyes at 09285.

“Don’t sass me. I’ll put you in hibernation mode again.”

09285 clamped his mouth shut then, not letting any humor show through in his expression. Hibernation mode was _the worst_. All he could do was sit there and think, unable to move and unable to truly sleep. It was boring as all hell.

One of these days he’d learn how to override it. So far it was a hurdle, no doubt because Ienzo expected him to try and was ready to foil him at every turn, but he was only human. Humans made mistakes. It was an opportunity 09285 looked forward to taking advantage of.

For now, he’d just settle for picking on the young scientist.

“You’d have to take that up with Leon if you did.”

After all, Ienzo may have made him but he didn’t _own_ him.

That honor went to the head of the city Restoration Committee. 09285 existed as a source of extra labor and was built to be strong enough to handle it. He technically didn’t even need an AI as advanced as his; all he was really necessary for was following orders.

But Ienzo liked tinkering.

Which explained why he was here now, running diagnostics on 09285 and preparing him for an update that would sync him with another AI meant for the castle computer. Some sort of souped up program that was supposed to run the city’s defenses more efficiently. It’d been dubbed 41088, the latest of Ienzo’s creations, and was currently being installed on the mainframe.

It’d run into…issues with the previous defense program—the damn thing had gotten all uppity and had declared itself the Master Control Program—but 41088 had proven itself not only useful but vastly superior when it had swiftly squashed the MCP like a bug. Things had run smoothly since.

09285 hadn’t interacted with the new AI yet, still being run through a series of diagnostics to ensure he wouldn’t catch or spread any viruses once connected to the castle computer, but he couldn’t quite help feeling curious. He wondered what this new AI would be like. Ienzo always sprinkled a healthy dose of personality into his creations after all.

Honestly, it was a wonder he got so offended at the so-called sass all things considered.

“I’m sure Leon would agree you could stand to stop giving lip every five seconds,” Ienzo griped, fiddling with wires in irate, jerky motions. He plugged and unplugged and untangled and cursed his way through the entire process until finally things were stable enough for him to get a proper diagnostic report. It appeared on the monitor in a jumbled mess of code that 09285 doubted anyone else but he and Ienzo could understand.

“All normal, it looks like. No viruses in your coding, no defects, no abnormalities…” he mumbled. His eyes swept over 09285 critically until he gave a satisfied nod. “I think you two are ready to be synched.”

“Can I ask why we need to be synched?”

That was the most baffling part. Ienzo never gave a why when he was called in, nor had Leon or anyone else on the committee. He was simply taken to the computer room of the castle, one of the more complete areas compared to the rest of the place which was still in ruins, and was sat down to be poked and prodded at with no explanation beyond “we need to sync you with 41088”.

For _some_ reason.

“I haven’t finished this one’s replica body yet. He can run off a map of the city already downloaded on the computer and detect threats that way, but I need to make sure he isn’t accidentally attacking civilians. You’ll be his eyes and ears until he can walk the streets on his own.”

Ah. That was an understandable worry considering how the previous AI running the town’s defense systems had started using it against civilians at one point. It was no wonder they wouldn’t have wanted that to happen again.

Still…

“Why me? I’m mostly going to be working reconstruction,” 09285 pressed. His brow furrowed in confusion as he knew full well that he wasn’t the only android Ienzo created. There were others who could get this job done fine. Hell, they technically weren’t people. If Ienzo wanted, he could just pull the chip out of one of his previous androids and install this new AI into the old shell.

“Why not you? You’re here and you’re convenient. And Leon’s willing to give you breaks, you just won’t take them from what I hear.”

Well, why would he? He didn’t need them.

Though he supposed if he was expected to be walking the streets with a foreign AI in his head, he would be needing them now.

“Fine, I’ll take that. Still, you realize you’re pulling me away from important work for this. The city is still in ruins.”

After that damned fairy showed up and wrought havoc on the entire city, prattling about being the Mistress of All Evil, Radiant Garden had been in a constant state of disarray. And that wasn’t just counting the physical state of it.

The reconstruction had required such a strong team effort that even Ienzo had been willing to sell one of his precious creations for it. And now said creation was being asked to stop?

“This _is_ important work. After Maleficent’s attack on the city, the heartless attacks on civilians have risen exponentially. Rebuilding the city is your primary purpose for now, yes, but you can be used for more than that. I’d say this is a worthwhile repurposing.”

“ _Temporary_ repurposing,” 09285 corrected. Ienzo rolled his eyes and let out a heavy, exasperated sigh.

“Temporary repurposing then. And then you can get back to lugging bricks like some household rumba,” Ienzo grumbled, tapping away the keyboard now as he set up the synchronization process.

“Rumbas don’t lug bricks.”

“Quit being a smartass, you know what I mean. Honestly, 09285…” This time Ienzo’s sigh was smaller. Sadder. “I gave you your mind so you could think. Not just follow orders. If you don’t want to help keep the town safe, well… I gave you the ability to say no for a reason. You can make a choice here if you want. Unplug from 41088 and go about your day. But I would hope you would choose to help the people of Radiant Garden.”

With that, Ienzo stood and made his way to the exit, intending to leave 09285 alone with his thoughts. The sounds of beeping and whirring filled the newfound silence as 09285 sat still in his spot, trying to work through what Ienzo was conveying. Emotions were…confusing, to say the least. It wasn’t as if 09285 couldn’t understand or replicate them, but sometimes they blindsided him. Humans were so _unpredictable_. Their feelings could change on a whim for no discernable reason.

09285 would never betray his home. He’d never let the city fall to danger again. If Maleficent ever came back, he’d pick up a weapon and fight her off himself if he had to. That was a choice. One that he made of his own volition. He wasn’t trying to deny Ienzo, nor did he wish the citizens of Radiant Garden to be in danger. He just…

He was confused.

Why this, all of a sudden? Why now?

Sure, 09285 was convenient, but there were other options. Ienzo _never_ took the easy way out. He was bored without a challenge. There had to be something more behind his desire to sync 09285 with this new AI, but what could it have possibly been?

“ _You seem a little out of sorts._ ”

Though he was artificial, and therefore had no need for a fight or flight response, 09285 couldn’t deny that he twitched a little in surprise when a voice that most certainly wasn’t his own echoed in his head.

It was playful. Young. Plain and clear, as if a young man was standing in the room next to him, speaking into his ear. Except this wasn’t anything of the sort. Not when the voice held a grainy quality to it, as if talking through a speaker. Not when the monitor lit up, a bright, warm red, as the synching process completed.

“41088?” 09285 asked tentatively. He spoke aloud on habit, though he had the feeling the young AI would’ve heard him even if he’d simply thought it.

“ _Yeah, that’s my… Well, that’s my number. Do I have a name?_ ”

“As far as I know, you don’t.” Ienzo never named any of them. He expected them to become advanced enough to name themselves eventually.

“ _Oh. Well that’s no fun! How about… Hmm…_ ”

The monitor dimmed a bit as 41088 thought for a moment. 09285 had an image in his mind of crossed arms and a head tilted to the side. Inexplicable at first until he realized that maybe this was how 41088 pictured himself.

“ _I’ve got it! My name’s Sora!_ ”

“Sora…” 09285 repeated, letting it roll off of his tongue and settle behind his teeth. It was a comfortable name. If he was correct, which he knew he was in all honesty, it was a name that originated from the Destiny Islands. It meant “sky”.

At first 09285 wondered why on earth 41088 could have possibly chosen that name, but somehow it fit. Somehow he could clear his mind until nothing but the mental image of “Sora” filled it. He imagined “Sora” would have bright, sky blue eyes and the thought of it was both fitting and endearing.

Sora it was, then.

“Sora,” 09285 nodded, now accustomed to it. He’d call 41088 “Sora” from now on. Somehow it was simply natural.

He wondered if that was Sora’s influence on him.

“ _How about you? What’s your name? And don’t say 09285. I already know that._ ”

Of course he did, he was in 09285’s head.

But then, wouldn’t that mean he should know…

“I don’t have one,” 09285 shrugged. He’d never bothered to think one up. He had no need for a name; 09285 served its purpose well enough.

“ _What? That’s_ boring _! Here, I’ll give you a name!_ ”

Ha.

How ridiculous was it that this brand spanking new AI was already at the point of not only naming himself, but naming his new brain-buddy.

“ _Brain-buddy. That’s funny_ ,” Sora chuckled. That’d be a little difficult to get used to. 09285 had had someone rummage through his head before (Ienzo of course) but never constantly. “ _I think I’ll call you… How’s Riku sound?_ ”

Riku, huh…

“Why that?”

“ _Well, if I’m the brain-buddy floating around in your head, you’re the guy keeping me grounded. So why not?_ ”

Well…

Alright.

Besides, the more he thought about it…it was nice. Having a name. Being able to properly introduce himself. No more odd looks when he started spouting numbers at people. He could just be Riku.

“ _You like it, huh?_ ” Sora asked with a tone in his voice akin to a pleased grin. Riku found himself grinning back.

“Yeah, I like it.”

Sora whooped with glee. Such an odd reaction to something so mundane.

Sora was just… _odd_. And Riku wasn’t sure what to make of that. But he couldn’t deny that he sort of liked it. Having someone to talk to, someone who could challenge him, intrigue him, excite him, would keep his mind sharp and, admittedly, his days brighter. He found the apprehension at Ienzo’s decision dissipating in the wake of his budding, er…acquaintanceship(?) with Sora.

He was curious where this would go.

-o-o-o-o-

“ _It’s weird seeing the city this way._ ”

Riku raised an eyebrow, though he knew Sora couldn’t see it.

“What’s weird?” He’d be seeing the city through Riku’s eyes, after all. Almost as if he was seeing it through his own. How could that have been weird?

“ _Well, it’s weird_ because _I’ve never seen it through my own eyes. I know all the schematics and the nooks and crannies, but they’re just lines and data. It’s so new seeing it like this!_ ”

Ah.

Despite the…intrusive way he answered, his response made sense. He knew what the city looked like, but he had no idea what it _looked like_. There were so many small details missing from the schematics.

“ _Sorry, that was intrusive, wasn’t it? I can’t really help it though. Your thoughts are loud._ ”

“Loud?” Riku was never under the impression that he thought loudly. Whatever that meant.

“ _Well, not loud like sound. But they’re really clear and distinct. Like, sometimes they’re wordless emotions. And sometimes they’re images. And sometimes they’re words. But they’re all_ you _. Like you’re talking directly to me._ ”

“Is that a…bad thing?” Was he maybe overtalking Sora’s thoughts? That wasn’t good. He didn’t want this synching to cause complete integration. It’d have ruined Sora’s purpose if he couldn’t be separated from Riku once his body was ready.

“ _You’re not going to integrate me, it’s alright. And no, that’s not a bad thing. That’s actually perfect if you’re worried about complete integration. If you’re so distinct, and I’m so distinct, we’d be easy to pick apart once my body comes in._ ”

“You have a point,” Riku nodded. Sora was, after all, very distinct. He could constantly be picked out from Riku’s thoughts. Sometimes he hummed to himself or sometimes he chattered about whatever crossed his mind. Periodically he scanned the city for threats, but things had been blessedly quiet lately so there was no need to pull out the security system yet. His voice was different, his thoughts were different, his entire personality was on a whole other plane than Riku’s.

Riku couldn’t deny how it’d caught his interest.

Sora was so brazenly independent from the get-go—it was a wonder he was still considered artificial. Everything about him seemed so genuine. He essentially bloomed from that tiny sprout in the mainframe to a full-on thinking, feeling entity living in Riku’s head. He bantered, he argued, he discussed, he considered. He was playful and funny and caring. He especially cared about the city residents. Nevermind that it was his job to; he took to it with a vigor that rivaled the Restoration Committee.

“ _What’s the Restoration Committee?_ ” Sora asked. There was a sheepish tone in his voice, as if he was embarrassed by Riku’s thoughts, and Riku found it to be…

What’s the word for that…

 _Cute_.

Could androids even find something to be cute? Apparently so…

“I’ll take you to meet them—” Riku started before Sora cut him off.

“ _No wait! I think… I’d like to meet them when I have my body. I wanna shake their hands with my own._ ”

“Alright.” That was understandable. All the Committee would be doing was shaking hands with Riku while Sora spoke to them in Riku’s voice. It wouldn’t feel very genuine.

And Riku never liked losing his autonomy like that.

“You should have your new body in a week,” Riku said. “Then I’ll take you to meet them.”

“ _Nice! I can’t wait!_ ”

Riku chuckled at that.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so excited to make friends.”

Sora laughed for a moment and a wave of amusement filled Riku’s head.

“ _I don’t think I’ve ever met an android that calls AIs ‘cute’_ ,” he snickered. If Riku could blush, he was sure he’d have turned bright red.

“Leave me alone. It’s not like you’ve met any other androids anyway…” he trailed off, certain there was a petulant note in his voice that must’ve come across as childish. Sora didn’t seem to mind.

“ _You’re right, I haven’t met anyone else but you. But I don’t mind that for now. I like you!_ ”

Oh.

Now _that_ would’ve had Riku glowing like a red flame. It was then that he decided he was glad he wasn’t human. As human-like as his emotions were, they never had to show on his face unless he wanted them to. Saved him the teasing he was sure he’d endure from anyone around him.

“I, uh… Thanks.” There was an unspoken _“I like you too”_ in there that Riku was sure Sora heard anyway, judging by the rush of glee working its way into his every circuit.

“ _Tell me about them?_ ”

“Hm?”

“ _The Restoration Committee. I wanna know what they’re like at least._ ”

Ah.

They came to Riku’s mind like a series of still images. Leon, or Squall Leonhart if anyone was brazen enough to risk being punched, was the ring leader. He’d started the entire restoration effort from scratch and had spent the last year not only rebuilding, but protecting citizens from heartless where the city defense system slipped up. He came across as cold and closed off, but Riku had encountered many moments in which he found Leon to be a very kind and caring person. He never seemed to mind opening up to Riku, despite the fact that Riku could absolutely comprehend his change in behavior (it wasn’t as if he was talking to a wall). Probably because Riku understood his need for privacy as well. Leon needed those moments where he could be himself instead of the fearless committee leader.

And then there was the tech-head Cid. He was lost in the world of AI so he never interacted much with Ienzo, but he often could be found cursing and chain-smoking his way through a line of code that few would understand. His forte lie more in gummi technology, and he stuck to it like glue. Too old to learn any new tricks, he’d always say. Regardless, he was essential in keeping the committee in line. On top of that, where there might have been any failings in Ansem’s computer, the castle computer, Cid’s set up in Merlin’s house was a reliable backup to keep things running.

Accompanying him would be the wizard Merlin who washed his hands of all technology. Magic was a baffling thing that Riku generally tried to stay away from and Merlin wielded it with the disgruntled disposition only the elderly could pull off without being chastised for. It was whimsical to the other members, aside from Cid who simply found Merlin irritating, but to Riku it was frightening. Every time he was near the man, he imagined some sort of slip up that resulted in his circuits being fried. His AI was uploaded to a good number of storage drives, so he wouldn’t be gone for good. But he’d have to wait however long for Ienzo to make him a new body and that was counterproductive to his purpose.

Aerith was almost as in charge of the entire effort as Leon was. She held more information than one could fathom…for a human, at least. Her documentation of not only past events but city layouts and population consensus was crucial to rebuilding Radiant Garden. Even now, she was the one people went to when they needed to know something. And to top it off, she was quite well versed in healing magic, making her invaluable during heartless attacks.

Yuffie was…um.

A teenager who thought she was a ninja.

Not that Riku made the mistake of thinking she was unskilled, not when her martial arts prowess was damn near professional, but she was also sixteen. And sixteen-year-old girls were mind boggling. Riku learned early on not to try and make sense of her. Besides, she helped protect citizens and aided in the rebuilding process enough to have more than earned her spot on the committee.

“ _They sound like interesting people_ ,” Sora chuckled.

“Yeah, let’s go with ‘interesting’.” Riku shook his head at the word, certain that it couldn’t properly convey what sort of people the committee was comprised of. “They help the city out a lot though. And I’m sure they’re grateful to you for your sweeps.”

It certainly cut down on the amount of work on their hands.

“ _I’m sure they’re grateful to you too. I’ll bet you make rebuilding go a lot faster_.”

Riku shrugged at that. He was sure they were thankful for his efforts too, but what did it matter when that was exactly what Leon bought him for.

“ _You know, for having been ‘bought’, you have a lot of freedom. I don’t think you should downplay what you’ve done just because Leon paid for it. I doubt he’d give you this sort of freedom if he just considered you property,_ ” Sora said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. As if what he said was so simple that it was only ridiculous that Riku didn’t realize it sooner.

Maybe it was. But he had no way of knowing. He never felt the need to ask.

“ _Why don’t you try asking sometime? You have the mind to. Put it to good use, otherwise it’s a waste._ ”

“Big talk for a security program,” Riku griped, disgruntled at the blasé way in which Sora essentially implied he was incompetent.

“ _A security program that’s obviously meant for more. If we’re going by the last guy, that’s probably a good thing. So why should I limit myself to just that? Why should you?_ ” Sora huffed. His voice had a bit of a snap to it that he took a second to rein in. “ _I’m not calling you incompetent. But maybe you are a little complacent._ ”

Well—!

Well…

He had a point. It was hard to care about much more than his job when Riku had little reason to. But it wasn’t impossible. He knew he cared for the city not just because he was supposed to, but because he saw more and more smiling faces every day as the city slowly returned to its former glory. He knew he cared because the committee exuded excitement rather than a dreary hopelessness nowadays. He knew he cared because he wanted to, not because he had to.

He could stand to start to care a little more. Not just about others, but about himself. He _wasn’t_ just property…Leon never treated him like he was. He should take that into account.

“ _Give yourself a little more credit_ ,” Sora said with a smile in his voice. “ _You might not be human, but you’re a person too._ ”

“…I guess you’re right.” It was so weird to think, but Riku couldn’t have feelings like those if he wasn’t a person. He couldn’t hold thoughts and opinions if he wasn’t.

He felt a little miffed that it took talking to Sora to figure that out, but at the same time…

He was glad.

Maybe that was what he was starting to like so much about Sora. He made Riku _think_.

“Glad I could help,” Sora laughed. Riku found himself smiling back.

-o-o-o-o-

_Security Breach._

Riku twitched at the sound. There was an alarm going off in his mind that was getting harder and harder to ignore the more aware he became. He’d been running an automatic update on one of his systems and it’d pulled him into a distracted lull as he sat on the Bailey steps, but the alarm had dragged him right back out of it.

_Security Breach._

It was in some generic, robotic female-toned voice—the one that sounded off completion percentages for his diagnostics—but its presence was no less startling.

_Security Breach._

There was a heartless attack somewhere.

“Sora,” Riku whispered, nudging at Sora’s mind with his own. Sora had fallen into the same trance-like lull as Riku while they both waited for the update to finish and he awoke with a mental jolt.

“ _Huh…?_ ” he responded almost groggily.

_Security Breach._

“ _Oh!_ ”

Immediately a map of the city filled Riku’s head and he found himself focusing on a red blip in the restoration site leading up to the castle.

“ _Riku!_ ” Sora urged, and Riku was on his feet before he’d even registered the movement. This was the first heartless attack they’d encountered in the few days they’d been synched, and it was time to put that synchronization to use. Riku had to ensure that Sora could differentiate between friend and foe before he started up the defense mechanism, otherwise they’d have another MCP situation on their hands.

He bolted the length of the rocky path, still sectioned off from civilians until the cobblestone could be put back down, until he reached a pair of what looked like castle technicians huddled by the scaffolding. A Large Body waddled a few feet away, pausing to scratch at its head as it’d seemingly lost track of its quarry.

“ _You can take that out, right?_ ” Riku asked silently, not trying to draw attention to himself. He wouldn’t take much damage from a heartless attack, not without an actual heart, but he didn’t want it to notice the two humans once it lost interest in him.

“ _Of course I can!_ ” Sora replied assertively, the alarm silencing as he tripped the defense mechanism. It shot out of the ground just underneath the Large Body, sending it hurdling into the air almost comically. The two technicians shouted in both surprise and fright when it slammed back into the rock, sending vibrations through the ground that rattled the scaffolding. Sora tripped the mechanism a second time before the heartless had a chance to recover, this time destroying it completely as its body disintegrated with the force and the heart contained inside of it was released.

“You two need to get out of here!” Riku shouted to the two trembling technicians, his eyes scanning the area for any more heartless. He turned in his spot, barely noting the bustling pair that ran past him and back towards town, before finally the tension in his shoulders eased. With the humans gone, it was easier to relax a little. If there were any more heartless around, they would’ve been the only ones in danger. Now with them out of the equation, Riku and Sora could run a deeper sweep of the area to make sure they were all gone.

It was in his lowered guard that the world suddenly spun.

“ _Riku!_ ” Sora called out frantically. Riku hit the ground with a thud, grunting with the force as he knew his synthetic skin must’ve suffered damage from that. A bit disoriented, he scrambled to his feet and looked around for the threat he must’ve missed.

“Was it a heartless?”

He got his answer when a neoshadow shot into the air, dissipating as a heart was released.

“Oh…” he trailed off with a sigh of relief. Sora, on the other hand, contrasted the emotion with a shock of pure guilt.

“ _I’m so sorry, Riku!_ ” His voiced echoed in Riku’s head with a pang of regret that Riku couldn’t quite make sense of.

“Sorry? For what?”

“ _You…you didn’t realize?_ ” Sora asked, his voice still laced with apprehension.

“What, the heartless? I was a little slow on the uptake, but—”

“ _No!_ ” Sora interrupted. “ _No, Riku. That was me_.”

…Oh.

“What happened?” Riku asked. Not upset, just genuinely curious.

“ _I knew it was behind you, so I tried to take it out. But the system went a bit haywire and considered you a threat as well. It attacked both you and the heartless._ ”

Ah. So that was what sent Riku flying.

That was a little embarrassing.

“ _You think you’re embarrassed. I’m in your head; I basically just attacked myself._ ”

Against his better judgement, Riku sputtered into laughter. It started quietly at first, consisting of nothing but a few bemused giggles, before expanded into full on, gut-busting laughter.

“ _Okaaaay._ ”

“No, I just… I just…” Riku cut himself off with another burst of laughter and the bleak stream of guilt started to fade as Sora lightened up at the sound of it. Even he started to chuckle a bit.

“ _That was kinda ridiculous huh?_ ” he tittered. Slowly he started to fill Riku’s mind with the soft glow of amusement. It was a fuzzy, ticklish feeling that Riku never paid much mind to when it was his own. Sora’s was just so… _bright_ though.

There was a warm ember of fondness in Riku’s core when he answered. A spark of pure elation that he didn’t think he’d ever experienced.

“Yeah, that was kinda ridiculous. Don’t feel too bad. At least no one saw you go flying.” There were a few cameras littering the construction sites though, so it was no guarantee no one saw the city security system send Riku flying. He’d have to put up with the teasing if anyone on the committee did.

“ _Sorry about that_ ,” Sora laughed sheepishly. “ _I didn’t want anyone to make fun of you._ ”

“Nah, it’s fine. Besides, that’s what we synched for anyway. So you could differentiate friend from foe. It might take a little while to work out the kinks, but it’s all for the better,” Riku shrugged.

Sora was silent for a moment, leaving a long, questionable pause before he answered.

“ _Yeah, I guess…_ ”

Hmm?

“What’s wrong?” Riku asked. He wasn’t much into mind probing, so he’d gladly wait until Sora was ready to voice his inner thoughts, but he could still _feel_ them. He could still tell Sora didn’t completely agree.

“ _It’s just, well… I don’t think we were only synched for this. You’re right in that I could’ve just been put into one of Ienzo’s older models while you worked. But you’ve been upgraded constantly since he first made you. More than his other androids. Hell, even more than Dr. Even’s replica program._ ”

True. Dr. Even, Ienzo’s teacher, was almost obsessive in his quest to manufacture people with his replica program and even his own creations weren't quite up to snuff with Riku’s AI.

“ _If you and I are the most advanced AIs_ ,” Sora continued. “ _Maybe there’s a reason Ienzo wants us to interact_.”

“You think there’s an ulterior motive?” Riku asked, though he supposed it was barely a question. There was almost always an ulterior motive with Ienzo. Riku just never felt the need to question it before.

“ _Well yeah, I agree that there’s always an ulterior motive. But I don’t think it’s a bad one. I don’t think I’d ever have felt and experienced things anywhere near as strongly as I do with you._ ”

He had a point. Never before had Riku felt emotions as strongly as he had once he’d synched up with Sora. Never before had he burst into laughter like that.

Never before had he felt such a bond with someone.

“You’re right,” Riku nodded in agreement. “Maybe he synched us up to help improve our emotions and reactions. Make us feel more human.”

From a technical standpoint, it was sound. Of course Ienzo would want such humanlike entities to act and respond as such. And Riku never got the interaction he had with Sora with other humans, not when he was constantly working in isolated construction areas. Not even the committee members really had time to talk with him for more than a few minutes a day. With Sora, Riku constantly had someone to banter with, someone to talk to, someone to motivate him.

Yet relegating their interactions to simply that, a science experiment, somehow felt wrong.

Sora was far more than that to Riku. In only a few days, he’d settled into Riku’s existence comfortably. Like he was always meant to be there. What once felt intrusive now felt natural. He _wanted_ Sora there.

He always wanted Sora there.

“ _You know Riku_ ,” Sora started, voice quiet in the wake of Riku’s realization. “ _I want that too. I still want to be with you, even when I get my own body. I want to stay together._ ”

“Yeah,” Riku said, lips quirking into a smile. “Let’s stay together.”

A rush of pure glee filled Riku, resonating with his own feelings in a hum that was almost musical. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to let that go, not now that he had it in his grasp.

Although…

His smile turned wry as he realized being together with Sora meant he’d probably have more days like this.

“Just try not to shoot me into the air again.”

“ _I told you, it was an_ accident _!_ ”

-o-o-o-o-

“09285…” a familiar voice called out.

Eyebrow raised, Riku started his systems up and moved to greet Ienzo. He’d been hanging around in a chair in the computer room of the castle, recharging while Sora did a sweep of the city. It always ran a bit faster when Sora wasn’t focused on anything else, so Riku suggested they both take a break and just sit for a while, enjoying each other’s presence. It was the first time he’d ever felt comfortable taking a true break.

Now however, the scan was coming to an end, having extended out to even the suburbs past the Rising Falls, and Riku could feel a strong current running through his limbs, almost like a buzz that ran along his skin. He figured he’d be fine to unplug and go see what his creator wanted.

Standing up, he prodded mentally at Sora to let him know that they had company before stepping out to stand in front of the monitor, watching Ienzo bustle in with a little help from someone Riku had never met in person but knew from a quick city system search was a castle guard. Aeleus. He and his partner Dilan were off duty during construction, so it was no wonder Riku never ran into them. Riku hadn’t been aware that he and Ienzo were friends though…if that’s what they even were.

“ _They look friendly enough to me_ ,” Sora mentally shrugged. Riku squinted at the two with their business-like expressions and stiff, professional movements…

“ _Uh…sure_ ,” he replied silently.

“There you are,” Ienzo huffed, breathing a bit heavily with exertion. He had a few boxes piled up in his arms, though the bulkiest one was carried under one of Aeleus’. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Took _Yuffie_ of all people to tell me where you wandered off to. Stop turning your locator off.”

Riku would, in fact, not stop turning his locator off because Ienzo’s bouts of nosy interference were annoying and he didn’t technically own Riku anymore so he could mind his damn business.

Sora snorted at that.

“Don’t worry, I’ll stop turning it off. I’ve been meaning to pull the chip one of these days instead,” he snarked back, rolling his eyes when Ienzo started grumbling about how he’d gotten too independent and was becoming too much of a smartass as a result. He tried not to grin.

“What’d you want me for anyway? What’s all that?” he asked as he nodded his head towards the boxes. They were set down with care, especially the large one, and both Ienzo and Aeleus set to opening them immediately.

“It’s not technically you I want. But 41088’s still in your head and it’s about time I give him his own body,” Ienzo answered. Riku leaned over to peek at the contents of the box to indeed find a number of interesting things. Chips and cores and cords and wires. And the biggest box held a body—nude and anatomically male—made of synthetic skin that, much like Riku’s, was refined to the point that it was nearly indistinguishable from a normal human’s. Once everything was put into place and it was started up, it’d even feel warm. His artificial intelligence would give his eyes a humanlike gleam that made him a little less uncanny looking and a little easier to talk to.

Just the thought of that had Sora nearly thrumming with excitement.

“ _Oh man! My own body! Oh I’m so excited!_ ” he chirped. His entire presence was ecstatic anticipation and Riku found himself smiling involuntarily at it.

“What’s got you grinning?” Ienzo asked. “That happy to have 41088 out of your mind?”

“No.” If anything, Riku was a little sad to be losing his mental link with Sora. It’d become as familiar as his own mind in the past few days. Even Sora’s mood dampened a bit when he thought that. But he couldn’t help but feel his own wash of enthusiasm in tandem with Sora. “It’s just that Sora got so excited that I couldn’t really help it.”

A thoughtful look crossed Ienzo’s face at that, and even Aeleus looked up from the parts he pulled out of the boxes to raise an intrigued eyebrow.

“You’re feeling emotions based off of his? Are you integrating?” he asked in a voice reminiscent of a deep thunderclap.

“No…” Ienzo answered for Riku. “He’s feeling emotions _because_ of 41088’s. I had a feeling this might happen…”

He began mumbling to himself then; a bad habit he’d formed a few years back that often had him looking a bit loony to those around him. Aeleus didn’t seem to mind, only glancing at him with time-tempered acceptance.

Huh. Maybe they were friendlier than Riku thought?

“ _Told you_ ,” Sora mumbled and Riku rolled his eyes.

“Their interactions have advanced both of their AIs more than likely. I had a feeling socialization was a key factor here…” he droned under his breath before asking in a louder tone: “You said his name is Sora? Did you name him, 09285?”

“Riku,” Riku corrected. “And no, he named himself. And then he named me.”

“I see…” Ienzo rubbed his chin in thought. “He’s quite autonomous then. Perfect.”

He clapped his hands together then, something akin to glee shadowing his expression as he addressed Aeleus.

“Well, let’s get 092—er…Riku and Sora separated so that we can begin the—”

“Wait!” Riku cut him off, feeling an overwhelming sense of apprehension both from himself and from Sora. “Do we have to be separated?”

“ _I don’t want them to separate us! I like talking with you like this!_ ” Sora chimed in frantically.

“Sora doesn’t want to be separated either,” Riku added. His posture had, almost without his input, shifted into something protective. As if he had to shield Sora from them.

Aeleus looked at Ienzo with a baffled set of his brow.

“Are you sure they aren’t integrated? That looks more like conjoining than independent thought to me.”

Ienzo _smirked_ , of all things.

“I’m positive it isn’t. This is amazing. Simply amazing! Their replication of emotion is so perfect it’s as if they genuinely _feel_! I’d go so far as to say that they do!” He was positively giddy now, despite the apprehension on Aeleus’ face.

“That can lead to dangerous consequences, Ienzo. What if they suddenly decide they don’t like being owned? What if they rebel? You remember what happened with the MCP.”

That sounded asinine, quite frankly. The MCP was old and flawed and essentially malfunctioning. And Sora had taken him out before he’d so much as landed a few people with minor bruises. Besides, Riku was downright grateful for his ability to feel. Who gave him that? Certainly not himself. He felt no desire to rebel. And Leon was uncomfortable with the idea of considering Riku his property. Leon treated him like any other person. Like someone deserving of respect. What would Riku gain from rebelling? Other than a one way ticket to some trash heap once he was inevitably shut down.

Even Sora seemed to be in agreement.

“ _Why would we want to rebel? I just like being able to help people_ ,” he practically sighed.

“I know,” Riku replied aloud out of habit. Ienzo and Aeleus blinked in surprise at him and he backtracked when he realized that sounded like affirmation of Aeleus’ words.

“No, I mean—!” he floundered for a moment in an inexplicably human gesture. “I was responding to Sora. He was saying we have no reason to rebel. We just want to help people.”

Ienzo nodded, his expression settling back into neutral.

“I figured as much. I doubt you’d have any reason to act out just because you’re developing emotions. This is what I wanted, anyway. This is _progress_.”

He turned to Aeleus again.

“Don’t worry, they’re definitely not integrating. They wouldn’t be holding conversations if they were; their thoughts would simply be synonymous.”

“Hmph.” Aeleus went back to pulling all of Sora’s parts out, opening the cavity of his chest so that he could begin setting the pieces in.

“I do still have to separate you two, 09— _Riku_ , I mean. He can’t run his body from your head. But I’ll allow you two to remain synched via wireless connection if you so wish.”

Riku smiled again at Sora’s joyous whooping in his mind. Ienzo watched him curiously, arms crossed and posture relaxed.

“I’m surprised you want this at all. I thought you didn’t like other people in your head.”

“I don’t,” Riku shrugged. “But Sora’s different.”

Sora was…everything to Riku now. He couldn’t possibly imagine his days without Sora’s chimed in comments or emotionally charged responses. He couldn’t make it through a morning without the daily city scan that earned amused notes from Sora as he felt the movements of the city’s residents along his simulated schematics. He couldn’t stand to walk through the city without Sora mentioning how he enjoyed the serenity of the fountain court or loved the hustle and bustle of the marketplace. Or his determined jump into action when a heartless showed up and he had to set the town’s defenses upon them.

Sora was so bright and strong and distinct. He was a beacon for Riku’s lost thoughts, calling them forward out of complacency. No longer was Riku a bystander in the lives of others, watching their days go by as he worked day and night to reconstruct the ruined parts of the city. Now he had someone else to talk to, someone else to joke with, someone else to feel for.

Someone else to live for.

It was hard to call the life of an android “living” when not a single part of him was composed of living tissue. Yet he imagined this must have been what it was like for humans. They found someone they liked and they lived for them. They lived with them.

That was what he wanted with Sora for as long as they both existed. It wouldn’t feel right to have that connection severed.

“ _Riku…_ ” Sora trailed off, his voice filled with awe and admiration. He’d heard every word. More than that: he _felt_ every word.

And Riku felt his response. It was overwhelmingly positive.

“I want Sora to stay with me,” Riku continued in a quieter, fonder voice. “It’s not intrusive with him.”

Understanding crossed Ienzo’s expression, and even Aeleus let a quirk of his mouth change his hardened look into something more welcoming.

“I see,” Ienzo nodded. “You’ll stay synched then. But please, stand by the computer so I can download his AI into his own chip. He’ll only be gone for a moment while I set up the wireless connection. Figured this might happen too…”

The last part was quiet. Another mumble under Ienzo’s breath. And yet it was amused and expectant, as if he’d known Riku might’ve wanted Sora to stay with him.

It’d certainly explain why the wireless connection would only take a moment rather than a few days. If he came prepared for it, he wouldn’t need to set up a physical link. It’d already be there.

“Thank you,” Riku sighed in relief.

“Wow, the sky must be falling. You actually _thanked_ me.”

Aeleus laughed in the background, still tinkering with Sora’s new body until it was set up perfectly. Ienzo even double, and then triple checked it to make sure everything was in its proper place. It’d be harder to fix issues if the replica was moving around, so best to make sure all was well before putting Sora into it.

Riku fished his smaller, diagnostic cable out of his pocket and plugged one end of it into the castle computer while the other end was fitted into the port at the base of his skull. The monitor glowed a bright green at the connection as coding flashed across the screen. Sora waited with bated breath as his own consciousness made contact with the computer. It was a neutral voice: something primitive and bland. Something made to follow orders and nothing beyond that. Even the voice it produced had a sterile robotic tinge to it that came across like a talking kitchen appliance more than something considered intelligent.

Suddenly Riku was incredibly thankful for Ienzo’s tinkering habit. He’d hate to be little more than a talking appliance with no sense of self.

“ _So… That’s gonna be me in that body…_ ” Sora started. He seemed almost wistful. And, much to Riku’s surprise, perhaps even a little bit afraid.

“ _There’s nothing to be scared of. You’re gonna love being your own person_ ,” he responded.

“ _And we’ll still get to be together?_ ” It was more a paranoid worry than a genuine question, not when it’d already been answered, but Riku gave nothing but reassurance in return.

“ _Of course. We’ll sync up over our own private wireless connection. It’ll still be you and me_.” The unspoken “as it should be” was loud and clear to Sora. As was his agreement.

“ _Okay. Then…_ ” Sora seemed to take a deep breath before resolve finally settled within him. “ _Then I’m ready._ ”

“Okay. Talk to you again soon,” Riku said aloud. With that, the monitor glowed that warm, inviting red again for the first time in eight days and the presence within Riku faded.

It felt…empty.

He’d never felt so alone in his entire life.

He watched dully, emotionlessly, as Ienzo plugged Sora’s chip into the computer. It took maybe ten or so minutes for Sora to transfer completely but to Riku, it may as well have been a century. There was no response to his thoughts. No nudge in his mind. No cheery voice telling him to buck up. No Sora.

Nothing.

It was terrifying.

The fear didn’t reflect on Riku’s face, but he could feel his fists clenching involuntarily. He didn’t like this black, poisonous feeling. The feeling of being afraid. It was like a phantom ache; an alien feeling to one who never felt pain.

Even as Ienzo and Aeleus hovered over Sora’s body, the chip having been inserted as they now waited for all of his systems to boot up, Riku’s fists remained clenched. Even as Sora’s eyes opened, the soft synthetic membrane covering the surface of his eyes a pure inky black before smoothly contracting into pupils surrounded by sky blue irises. Even as he lifted his head and tested his limbs, curling and uncurling his fingers and toes before standing on Ienzo’s command, even as he padded across the floor, posture confident and tall despite the fact that he was naked as a newborn, even as he looked around the room in wonder…

It wasn’t until his eyes met Riku’s that his fists finally unclenched. It wasn’t until Sora smiled at him that the sheer terror started to dissipate.

He looked just as Riku imagined he would.

All tan skin and blue eyes and cinnamon brown hair. His smile radiant, his back straight, he stance tall despite his short stature.

He paid no one else in the room any mind. He only looked at Riku.

“It’s a shame you never looked in a mirror,” he chuckled. His voice felt like home.

And he brought a sudden realization to Riku that hadn’t even crossed his mind until now.

Sora had never seen what Riku looked like. Riku had no need to check his appearance, having no desire to ensure his own presentability in that vain way humans did, and so he never sought out any mirrors.

It was a first meeting for them both, in a way.

“That’d have ruined the surprise,” Riku responded with a tiny grin.

Ienzo coughed loudly.

“If you two are done flirting, I’d like to run a few more tests on you, Sora.”

Behind him, Aeleus snorted and shook his head.

That had gained Sora’s attention, allowing Riku to take the rest of him in as he turned away. He was very much what one would consider conventionally attractive. Flawless skin and an almost doll-like beauty to his face. Large eyes framed with thick lashes and plush, pink lips. Lithe in frame and designed to look muscular. Not as much as Riku, but enough that he gave off a fit image. Nothing was disproportioned or overblown or underwhelming. He’d catch the eye of just about anybody. Ienzo always liked making his replicas pleasing to look at. It made them stand out, he liked to say.

And Sora absolutely stood out. He was just so… _pretty_.

Yet what really made him attractive, Riku believed, was his personality. He was so vibrant. Nothing about his appearance really mattered without his distinct voice to spice it up. He wasn’t Sora without it.

Even as Ienzo inspected him from head to toe, Sora shifted from foot to foot, chattering idly as he glanced around the room more, his gaze repeated trailing towards Riku in the midst of his observations. He looked over himself with an almost childlike curiosity, flexing his limbs more and getting a feel for his own body. He commented on the lack of activity in the city or on his touch receptors detecting certain temperatures and deciphering between materials. He even jokingly quipped about the nice weather to Aeleus, who simply rolled his eyes as he sorted the boxes into a corner where they’d eventually get collected as trash.

“We’ll have to get you some clothes and send you out into the city so you can get a feel of it with your own body. Riku will accompany you, of course. But first…”

He pulled out a gummi tablet and fiddled with it, and Riku felt a ping at his wireless connectors. It was typically the sort of thing he ignored, after all it usually happened when someone detected him as a wifi hotspot and tried to use him as such (he always blocked them out with vindictive glee, often after hacking their gummiphones and changing their passwords), but this time he eagerly let it through. It took a few beats of buffering but…

“ _Riku?_ ”

It was like a breath of fresh air when he heard Sora’s voice in his head again.

“ _Hey_ ,” he smiled, despite answering mentally. “ _How’s it feel to have your own body?_ ”

Sora turned away from Ienzo then, despite the young scientist’s disgruntled sigh, and padded towards Riku with his hands outstretched. Riku’s fingers slotted easily between Sora’s, curling slightly so that they were practically holding hands.

“ _It’s pretty nice. Means I can do this._ ” Sora turned his hands until his palms were flush against Riku’s and he smiled back. Wide and toothy and perfect.

“Leave it to _your_ androids to fall in love,” Aeleus mumbled in the background.

Ienzo’s response was proud.

“Told you they could.”


End file.
